Londoni Memoirs
A Photography and Audio-Visual Exhibition by Seema Khalique
LONDONI MEMOIRS: A NEW PHOTOGRAPHY AND AUDIO-VISUAL EXHIBITION DOCUMENTING THE EXODUS A GENERATION OF BANGLADESHI MIGRANTS FROM WAR AND THEIR HOPES OF A NEW HOME HERE IN THE UK.
Exhibiting at Four Corners, 121 Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 0QN
Running from Friday 18 September – Friday 10 October 2026
Gallery Opening Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, 11am–6pm
Admission: FREE
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
Opening Night: Thursday 17 September 2026 (6pm–8pm)
Family Workshop: Saturday 19 September 2026 (11.30am–1.30pm)
Participant Event: Saturday 19 September 2026 (2pm–4pm)
Londoni Memoirs, a new photography and audio-visual exhibition by Seema Khalique, will open at Four Corners, Bethnal Green, this September. A collection of portraits, curated ephemera, artifacts, heirlooms and video-interviews of 12 Bangladeshi migrants from 1950s-70s, documenting their exodus from genocide during the 1971 liberation war and watching their motherland’s independence from afar while making UK their home.
Seema Khalique, Artist and Curator:
“This exhibition is personal journey into my family history inspired by the lack of memory of my late father’s early life in the UK and reflects the experience of a whole generation and community where once again we’re asked who we are and where we come from?”
A PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO COLLECTIVE MEMORY
The project grew from Seema’s own search for a family history that had largely remained undocumented, especially of her late father’s early life in the UK. He arrived in Britain in 1956, followed by her mother in 1973 after the Bangladesh Liberation War, both in search of a better life.
From this personal starting point, Seema began documenting the experiences of a wider generation - whose lives sit between the histories of liberation and immigration.
For Londoni Memoirs, Khalique has photographed Bangladeshi migrants who arrived in Britain from the 1950s through to the 1970s, capturing them through present day interviews alongside curated ephemera, artifacts and heirlooms.
FROM DISPLACEMENT TO BELONGING
The heart of Londoni Memoirs is the experience of a generation caught between two defining moments: escaping genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War and establishing a new life in an unfamiliar foreign country.
The exhibition considers how this experience helped shape not only British Bangladeshi identity, but also the country as a whole through the generations born in Britain afterwards.
Londoni Memoirs seeks to honour a generation whose contribution was pivotal in the development of the multicultural society that exists in the UK today.
Londoni Memoirs is made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
